Public Pension-Inflating Spiking

Hogs at the Trough--unbelievable!--

California Teacher Fund Targets Pension-Inflating Spiking - Bloomberg: ". . . The practice of inflating pay rates in the last years of employment to boost retirement income helps drive pension costs higher. It was so pervasive in San Francisco, a grand jury concluded in 2009 that one in four retiring police officers and firefighters in the previous decade got raises of at least 10 percent in their final year on the job, pushing up pension costs by $132 million or more. With John Bayless, who left the Cabrillo Unified School District near San Francisco in 2007, the fund took action. Payment Cut In his final full year of nine as superintendent of the 3,500-student system 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Francisco, Bayless got a $61,000 raise. When he retired in 2007 at 56, his annual pension topped $154,600 -- exceeding his salary before the 45 percent increase, retirement system records show. After its review, the fund cut the payment by 26 percent last year to just under $114,600. The teachers’ fund determined that the raise to almost $197,700 was designed to inflate his pension, Duran said, without providing details to avoid tipping off abusers. . . . "

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